瑜伽師地論略纂 7.57

7.57

In the fourth section of three verses, the first verse is a question and the remaining two verses are the answer. In the prose commentary, only the last two verses of the answer are explained. "Crossing the five floods" means cutting off the five fetters of the lower realm. "One shall cross the six" means the expedients for cutting off the five fetters of the higher realm. "How can one extensively cross over the craving for desires?" means the expedient for cutting off the five fetters of the lower realm, which is called extensively crossing over the craving for desires. "Yet not having obtained the waist-boat": asking whether, having cut them off well like that, one has not yet obtained the waist-boat to cross over the fetters of the higher realm. Just as people in the world cross the sea with gourds, floating leather bags, or rafts, placing floating bladders around their waists and calling them waist-boats: the sea is an analogy for saṃsāra, the mental consciousness is like the waist, and prajñā is like the boat. In the two verses of the answer, the first verse is the direct answer, and the latter verse concludes the answer. "And able to meditate quietly, deliberate, and contemplate genuinely": because the initial, middle, and final phases are distinct. "Craving for association" refers to not having yet attained superior objects. "Craving for increase and craving for non-separation" refer to having already attained superior objects. "Craving for non-association" refers to not having yet met undesirable objects. "Craving for deterioration and craving for separation" refer to having already met undesirable objects. "Furthermore, there is a distinction: how to cultivate the samādhi without vitarka, etc.": the previous set already explained that cultivating the samādhi without vitarka is an expedient for cutting off the five lower fetters; because in the first dhyāna there are three collections of consciousness that give rise to joy and equanimity and stir up deluded craving, vitarka and so forth not yet being exhausted, one relies on the samādhi without vitarka and vicāra to cultivate the expedient of abandoning them. Now, this distinction: repeatedly cultivating further by relying on the second dhyāna is called 'cutting them off well like that'. Moreover, the earlier alternative clarified that by relying on hearing, thinking, and samādhi in the desire realm, one becomes revulsed by vitarka, hence it is called samādhi without vitarka, which is the expedient for cutting off the lower fetters; relying on the first dhyāna to leave behind the desires of the desire realm, the lower fetters are severed. Now, the second distinction: cultivating the samādhi without vitarka and vicāra of the second dhyāna keeps the lower fetters distant, which is called 'cutting them off well like that'. "The rest is as explained before" means that fully understanding phenomena and gaining everlasting liberation are all the same as the prior explanation. "As the sūtra states: shame is the axle, the mind is the waist-boat": shame is like an axle that can hold together the wheels of goodness to steer the chariot of wisdom and cross over peril. 'Waist-boat' is as explained above.